RELATED ARTICLES

Share this article

When asked if she felt she had to become unhealthily skinny for the role she hesitated before responding: 'Umm... not really.'

'Before, I dressed much girlier,' she says. 'A lot of blush-colored things. Now I literally roll out of bed and put on whatever is there. I have really enjoyed being a boy this last year.'

Lady of the lake: The actress posed with a moss covered statue in a stunning backless Marchesa gown

On news stands from October 25

But the actress underwent a complete physical transformation in which
the beauty team: 'cut my hair, shaved the sides, bleached the eyebrows,
then dyed my hair black,' she says.
'Then we went and did the piercings—all in one day. I went in looking like Erica Albright (her Social Network character) and I came out like this.'

'The eyebrows were the biggest shock because that really changed my
face, and I didn’t recognize myself. But I was fine because I knew it
was going to be really helpful for getting into character.'

Despite the physical differences between the actress and her character,
Lisbeth Salander, Rooney managed to draw several similarities between
the two.

'I am very slow to warm,' Mara says. 'I’ve always been sort of a loner. I
didn’t play team sports. I am better one-on-one than in big groups.'

'I can understand wanting to be invisible and mistrusting people and
wanting to understand everything before you engage with the world.'

Because of this the actress is hoping that she will be able to retain her privacy after the film premieres.

'That kind of fame is not something I ever wanted for myself,' she says.

'It just so happens that this huge, gigantic monster of a film came
around that also happens to have the most incredible character that I
ever could have dreamed up.

'But my fear with a movie like this is the kind of exposure you get from
it,' she continues.

'I think that can be death to an actor. The more
people know about you, the less they can project who you are supposed to
be. It's unfortunate that you really only get one shot at that. After
this, I won't be able to be that girl again.'